A Lonely Dance
by TsukiMotama
Summary: A girl from the medical ward issues party invites as thanks to all the Genin, Chunin, and Jonin that have helped her through the years. With this invitation in hand, Naruto must do the hardest thing he's ever done...


Ok, my first actual story... I hope it's a success... Also, I will not be putting in 'believe it', it's unnecessary and bothersome to do. (You can say it in your head though, if you want.)

Time set - Sasuke has practically just left, and Naruto hasn't yet. That's all you need to know.

(There are OCs in here, but they play no major role, don't worry. EX: Rekii, Sona, etc)

* * *

"Sakura-chan! Sakura-chaaaan!" a voice shouted almost directly outside the window of a certain pink-haired konoichi. She got up from her bed, looking quite agitated. She had planned to sleep in today...

She opened the window and leaned out, making her anger apparent. She said nothing, but the boy below knew exactly that was her mad 'what?' face.

"W-well, I got this invitation! All teams are invited to this party... thing... I was wondering, since you're part of Team 7, if you were going," he answered, rubbing the back of his head with one hand while the other held the invitation.

"Oh... Who's party is it? What's it for, Naruto?" she asked, correcting her angry face, but then she got it slightly back, "Wait, if it was an invitation to all teams, wouldn't I get one? Couldn't I have just seen it for myself when I actually _wanted _to get up?"

"Ehh... theoretically, yes," Naruto answered, getting more flustered by the second. Yes, he may have been a bit too anxious to wait for Sakura to open the letter, but how could he not be? This was the first party he had ever been invited to. "I'm not sure what it's for, but it's from Rekii, you know, that really nice nurse?"

"Why is she sending an invitation to teams? She barely knows any of us, right?" Sakura quietly, crossing her arms across the windowsill, laying her chin on them.

"Apparently, she wants to thank all of the Genin for the stuff we've done for. Like missions, or just chores... I think that's what it said in the letter, but I don't remember ever doing anything for her," Naruto explained, rereading the letter as Sakura was taking a break on her question asking, "Sooo... Are you going?"

Sakura thought, looking to the side. Oh, it was probably going to be a dance-type thing... If only Sasuke was still here...

Naruto noticed her sullen look and looked down, thinking as she was. "J-just come by the Training Field when you've though it through. It's ok if you don't want to, I'd-"

"Say, hold on Naruto! I'm coming down!" Sakura said quickly before Naruto could start walking away. She grabbed a random ribbon and tied it in it's normal style, going downstairs as she did so. "I'm going out, Mom!" she said right before exiting, not even waiting for her mother's response. She met up with Naruto and began walking down the street with him. "So, what stuff is going to be done there?" she wondered aloud, casting a glance to Naruto.

"Well, we could go see Rekii and ask her! She's probably at the hospital..," Naruto suggested, since he didn't know the answer himself. Without Sakura's approval, he charged forward, excited about Sakura's interested response. _She might go! This is going better than expected!_ he thought, smiling.

"N-Naruto! She's working!" Sakura yelled after him, but was much too late. She sighed and quickly tried to catch up with him.

"Rekii-san! Rekii-san!" Naruto called after entering the building, going up to the desk, "Miss, is Rekii in today?"

"Oh, umm... Yes, floor 3, but she's-"

"Alright! Floor 3!" Naruto shouted, energetically running forward yet again, just yet another example of his never-ending energy. He eagerly went up the stairs two steps at a time, reaching the designated floor with record timing and still enough energy to get him around the village at least six times. He started peeking in the patient rooms' windows, looking for the crimson-headed medic. He finally spotted her in the employees break room. "Rekii!" he called happily, quickly entering the room with a bold sign: "**EMPLOYEES ONLY**".

"N-Naruto?" asked a surprised Rekii, jolting upward like she had just been napping, "What... Why are you here?"

"Rekii, what kind of things will go on at your party thing?" he asked, coming up in front of her. It would take Sakura a while to get there. He had left her way behind.

"Oh... Well, if that's all... The first quarter is a free-hour, but then there's the Team Dance," Rekii explained, going on, "Where the three members of a team do a kind of group dance. Then their teachers, or leaders, do a couple dance. The two dances are separate though."

"Oh...," Naruto muttered, looking to the side. Their team didn't have a fourth member...

Rekii, sensing Naruto's disappointment, remembered his missing teammate. She gently smiled and stood up, patting Naruto's head, "You two can join the teacher dance. Is that ok?"

Naruto looked up, pausing for a moment. His face was kind of blank, but before he could change it into semi-excitement, Sakura finally came in, breathing abnormally.

"N-Naruto! Don't... run off like that... Rekii's working right now...," Sakura said weakly, leaning on her knees as she caught her breath.

"Oh, it's ok Sakura. He just wanted to know what was happening at my little get-together," Rekii said and laughed gently, removing her hand from Naruto's head.

Naruto didn't express his latter excitement, doubtful that he'd get a dance with Sakura. It wasn't required, so she'd surely refuse. So, instead, he just turned his head, looking at Sakura with the same blank face.

"N-Naruto?" Sakura asked, noticing his strange, out-of-character look. _Is something bothering him? He looked so happy when he was coming to talk to Rekii_...

Rekii noticed the look and frowned a little, looking at Sakura. "There's a dance part of the party," she mentioned, hoping to switch the mood, "One for teams and then one for team leaders..."

"O... oh...," Sakura muttered, her face growing dark at the mention of a team dance. _But... we don't have a team... _"We can still have fun though, right? The dance isn't mandatory, right?" she asked, also trying to cheer Naruto up, thinking he was disheartened by the team thing as well.

Naruto looked away, sucking up his sadness. It wouldn't help the situation if she saw his expression, in fact, it'd only make the situation worse. He was definitely upset about Sasuke, but he thought he had a chance to elevate his and Sakura's feelings. They were both down in the dumps ever since that day, so he thought the party would lighten the mood, but... If they didn't take part in anything, odds were they would sit in awkward silence the whole time... But Sakura probably didn't feel like a dance or anything like that, she'd only get mad at him. He didn't want to make her feel pressured or anything.

"Well, I-"

"She's right, Rekii," Naruto said swiftly, rubbing away the little tears that had escaped, raising his head with a smile and clear face, "Don't worry! We'll be there!" He gave Rekii a thumbs up, but her expression wasn't that of happiness. Her mouth slightly hung open, eyebrows curved as if she was about to cry.

"Naruto, you...," Rekii started, but was interrupted by Naruto turning around and walking out the door.

"I guess I should get going. Sakura said these are business hours, so I suppose I'm keeping you from a patient. Sorry," Naruto said, turning his head and giving another wide smile, "See you at the party!"

"N-Naruto, wait!" Sakura called, jogging to keep at the boy's side. _Something's definitely wrong... Is he still upset about his promise? No, that couldn't be it... Sasuke's still alive, so he hasn't broken his promise or anything like that, but still... I can only think of problems with Sasuke... What happened during that fight?_

Once they were out of the hospital, Naruto had his heads behind his head as they walked, his eyes closed.

"Naruto...," Sakura said quietly, waiting until Naruto's eyes had opened and he looked at her, "...are you... ok?"

Naruto blinked several times before stopping and placing his hands by his side. He looked at Sakura a long while before finally answering, "Just a little tired. Sorry, did I worry you?"

Sakura did her own fair share of staring before looking down, thinking long and hard. "I'm... not sure... If you're tired, you should get some sleep. That party is tomorrow, right? Don't you want to be rested for it?" she asked, glancing back up to him with a small, but sincere, smile.

Naruto gave his own smile, slightly blushing. _Sakura-chan..._ he thought, then shook his head. "Umm... Yeah, that's a good idea... See you tomorrow then, Sakura-chan!" he said, veering off the path and waving bye.

Sakura waved back until he could no longer be seen, her hand falling limply back to her side. _You're not... just tired. I can tell, Naruto... kun._

**_-The next day-_**

When the sun was in the middle of the sky, Sakura knew it was almost time... She brushed her hair thoroughly and put on one of her mom's dresses. It was a black shoulder-strap dress with a hot pink sash around the waster, a white circle holding the sash together nearest to her right side. It was very simple, but she liked it that way. To switch it up a little, she put no ribbon in her hair. Instead, she parted it to the right side, so some of it hung to the side of her face. This kind of hairstyle, her mother told her, really brought out her bright eyes, especially with dark eyeliner, but not too much. That would make her look creepy, or so her mother said. She put on a light shade of pink lipstick, and pursed her lips.

Once down looking at herself in the mirror, making sure she was perfect, she leaned on her dresser, staring at that same picture of her, Sasuke, Naruto, and Kakashi. _Why couldn't it stay like that? Things like this would be so much more eventful with a full team. Even though Naruto seemed to hate him, he knows it too... I wonder if he'll even show up.._, she thought, her heart sinking. If none of her teammates showed up, she'd definitely be lonely, and dressing like this would have been pointless.

"Sakura! Time to go! Wasting time like this, it's not like you! Don't be late for your first party, it'll leave black marks on your record!" her mother called from downstairs. Before Sakura could make her way down the stairs, the bell rung, and her mom got it. _Who could be...?_

"I-I hope I'm not late. Getting something like this on by myself took awhile... Is Sakura-chan still here?" asked a familiar voice, and Sakura stopped herself at the top of the stairs.

"Ah, Naruto-kun! I didn't expect this!" her mom exclaimed and giggled, continuing with a call to Sakura, "Sakura-chan! Naruto-kun's here! Better not keep him waiting!"

Naruto laughed slightly, rubbing the back of his head, "Sh-she doesn't need to hurry. I really don't mind waiting. Actually, I'd kinda rather... This is the first thing I've been invited to, so I don't know how well it'll go."

"Hear that? What a gentleman-"

"I hear, I hear! Stop guilt tripping me, I'm ready!" Sakura yelled back down, rushing down the steps. She stopped halfway, seeing just how gentlemanly Naruto looked. Somehow, he had managed to pull on a suit, the right way too. Also, without his headband, he looked very mature, even though she knew him to be the opposite. If you were just meeting him like this, you'd think he was the most well-mannered guy to step into the Leaf Village.

Naruto, too, was stunned by Sakura's appearance, though he wasn't shocked. He had prepared himself for Sakura to look pretty, but still... even after all of his prepping, he still couldn't back a slight blush. "Sh-shall we go? We'll be really late if we wait anymore," he sheepishly said, still rubbing his head.

"R-right!" Sakura stuttered, rushing down the rest of the half of stairs and to Naruto's side. "Bye Mom! Be back soon!" she said before closing the door.

_So he's the Nine Tails... He really doesn't seem much of a monster. Actually, quite the opposite_, Mrs. Haruno thought to herself, smiling.

When the twosome made it to the party, almost everyone they knew was there, and it was still the free-hour. Just twenty-five minutes before the team dance, which now that they thought about it, didn't make much sense.

_How's a thing like that work?_ thought Naruto, making a slightly pouted/confused face, walking forward with Sakura by him. Luckily, everyone was dressed, so they didn't stand out too much, especially the boys. The only thing they could wear formally was a suit, but some did have different colors and made from different fabrics. But in Sakura's opinion, Naruto stood out the most, since he wasn't normally the formal-type person. Actually, she had half expected him to wear casual clothing as always.

"Sakura!" called Ino, who wore a much more elaborate dress, no doubt to beat Sakura, or so Naruto thought. In his opinion, though, he liked Sakura's style a lot better. It wasn't even close between the two's beauty.

"Ah, Ino! Where are you're partners at? Isn't it almost time for the team dance thing?" Sakura asked, looking around. She didn't really think about the obvious places that Ino was about to mention.

"Choji's over at the food and punch, and Shikamaru is lounging in a chair. Everyone's pretty much in their designated spots, but I'll definitely move them to the floor for this dance thing. I practiced a long time for this!" Ino yelled out, pumping a fist into the air.

"Why?" Naruto asked, giving an even more confused look.

"Well, because! No matter who it's with, dancing is fun, but only when you know how! Plus, dance is a good way of catching attention," Ino said slyly, giggling. She then stopped her laughter, actually noticing Naruto for the first time, "Whoa! Somebody has had a major makeover! Sakura helped you, right? Especially the tie."

"Actually, I did most of it myself. I did make Iruka-sensei tell me how to tie the tie, but I did it myself. It did take a while though...," Naruto mentioned, yet again nervously rubbing the back of his head, "By the way, how is that going to work? The team dance thing, I mean. How can you dance with three people?"

"Oh, that's easy," Ino said, ignoring his first statements, "The girls dance with one teammate, then switch to the other, and then both at the same time! It's pretty fun, and it can be complicated or boring. Like a ballroom dance or one with really hard moves! I prepared myself for either!"

"Oh, I see," Naruto said, then quit talking for the meantime. He'd really like to see Choji and Shikamaru dance. Surely the only one to put their heart into it would be Ino. He imagined Shikamaru would terribly drag his feet, and Choji just didn't seem like he knew a single step of dance. Actually, Hinata would be dancing with Kiba and Shino, right? What an odd dance that would be... he couldn't imagine Shino dancing either, but Kiba probably wouldn't it. But Hinata... she seemed to shy for a thing like this... Would she actually do it? Tenten with Lee and Neji... Lee would definitely be up to a 'challenge', but Neji... he wasn't sure about that either. It seemed all the teams had a person who wouldn't dance, which would probably include Sasuke. He could never even imagine Sasuke dancing... With this thought, NAruto let out a small chuckle, but instantly stopped after receiving a glare from both women.

It was obvious they had been talking about something completely important, but Ino didn't have time to let him have it. A loud voice called that the team dance was starting, and people began to line up.

"I'll get you later, Naruto!" Ino growled, running off to fetch Choji and Shikamaru.

Sakura began to walk over to a table with four chairs and sat in one, Naruto following her lead and sitting on the opposite side. Occasionally, Naruto would steal a glance at her, but her expression never changed. She was always looking at the people dancing, and her eyes had a look longing. Naruto sighed, putting his hand under his chin and placing his elbow on his knee. Here came the awkward silence.

Thirty-five minutes went by rather slowly, and the teacher dance was called. Only, before it started, Rekii personally came up an began giving a small thank-you speech, for after this, the get-together would be over, "I would like to personally thank all of you for coming today... It means a lot to me, it really does. Especially to reveal what this party's real reasoning was." This sentence caught everyone's attention, and even stopped Choji from eating. "I have been blessed with a child," she finally said, which was truly shocking. It was to be believed that Rekii was unable to have children. This really was a thing to celebrate... "But," this one word caused alarm in the group, "At such a joyous time, I hate to see anyone feeling lonely and empty. Therefore, along with the team leaders..." The people held their breath, Naruto especially. "...the two remaining members of Team 7 will be taking part in this dance."

Naruto felt his heart stop, sweat dripping down his face. Sakura was shocked too, unable to handle all what had been told, especially that last part. A dance... with just Naruto? Surely this had to be a joke...

As they thought and the teachers chose partners, Rekii smiled, "Don't make me point you two out."

Naruto blushed hard, quickly standing up, _As if we don't already stand out enough_, he thought, gulping. He guessed those emergency dance lessons would come in handy after all. Sakura, unable to let the poor guy go up alone, rose after him, coming up to his side.

Before Naruto could even believe it himself, they had made it to the floor and he had a hand around her waist and one on her shoulder. She had him around the neck, and both were quite embarrassed, Naruto more so. He almost could pass himself off as a tomato.

Even though they were doing something, it still took forever, but not in awkward silence. It was the good kind of 'lasting forever', though neither would say that out loud. After it had ended and everyone cleared out, Sakura and Naruto were left sitting on the steps. Footsteps came from behind and a hand landed on both their shoulders. Almost simultaneously, Naruto and Sakura turned their heads to face Rekii.

"You two were cute," Rekii said, laughing at their once again red faces, "To think that this night would have ended with you two feeling sad if I hadn't made him do it."

Sakura gave a confused look, glancing for a moment at Naruto, who had turned his head around out of embarrassment.

"I told Naruto you two could participate in the teacher dance. He must have been too shy to ask you," Rekii admitted, lifting her hands from their shoulders.

"S-sorry, Sakura-chan... I thought... you wouldn't want to..," Naruto explained further while twiddling his thumbs, but didn't look up. He suddenly felt a hard punch to his shoulder, almost knocking him over. "Ah!" he yelped, holding his arm with his other hand. He looked over, about to ask why she had done that, but was shocked to find Sakura crying.

"I-idiot!" she yelled out, aiming another good punch to his side, "I... wanted to... Dance, that is." After saying so, she took her turn and hid her face from Naruto's view.

"Sakura... chan..," Naruto said quietly, lightly blushing, but was also smiling. He laughed a bit, but only received another punch and further threats... _Sakura-chan... you really are something..._

_

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My first one shot. Good? Bad? Eh? Please tell me so I can get better! Thank you!

R&R


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